Horseland Homicide
by GreenWiggle2018
Summary: When a body is found in the woods surrounding Horseland, the gang helps out the police with investigating the murder.
1. A Shocking Discovery

**Chapter 1: A Shocking Discovery**

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A.N. This story contains themes some might find disturbing. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

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One bright and sunny morning in Horseland, young Bailey Handler and his friends Sarah Whitney, Molly Washington, Alma Rodriguez, Nani Cloud, and twins Chloe and Zoey Stilton were riding their horses through the woods surrounding the place.

"It's a beautiful day to go riding." Bailey sighed happily, smiling.

"I couldn't agree more." agreed Sarah, smiling herself.

Just then, Bailey's horse, Aztec, neighed loudly and slightly reared.

"Whoa, Aztec, whoa!" Bailey commanded as he calmed down his stead, patting the animal's neck.

"What's wrong with Aztec?" Molly asked.

"I don't know." replied Bailey. "He just started acting weird."

Just then, Sarah spotted something in the distance.

"I think I know what's going on." she informed. "There's something up ahead."

The others took notice of this as well. It looked out of place.

"What could it be?" Chloe wondered out loud.

"Let's go check it out." suggested Bailey.

With that, the kids disembarked from their horses and went over to see what had come into their view. When they got closer, they discovered it was a pile of leaves.

"Oh, it's just a worthless pile of leaves." Chloe complained, frowning in disgust.

However, it was then that Alma saw a speck of blue inbetween the leaves.

"There's something underneath." she noticed.

Alma then removed the leaves covering the unknown object, and it turned out to be a blue tarp that was wrapped around something large.

"Oh my goodness!" Sarah exclaimed. "What's that?"

"There's only one way to find out." Bailey concluded. "Help me undo the wrapping."

With that, they carefully undid the wrapping, and what they uncovered petrified them. There, right in front of them, was a human male body. The skin tone and hair color of the body made it clear that it was of someone from South Asia. The ones who were shocked the most where Chloe and Zoey.

"It can't be him!" cried Chloe.

"But it is!" confirmed Zoey.

"You know this guy?" Bailey asked, looking alarmed.

"Yes." answerd Zoey. "That's Amar."

"Amar Achaval." continued Chloe. "He was our father's personal assistant."

"Wow." exclaimed Sarah.

"I'll go get Will." proposed Bailey. "You guys stay here."

"Don't worry, Bailey." Nani promised. "We're not going anywhere."

Bailey got back on Aztec and thundered back to the ranch, where his cousin, Will Taggert, was watching _Forensic Files _on TV while having a hot bowl of cream of asparagus soup for his lunch when Bailey burst in, looking rather alarmed.

"Will, come quick!" Bailey pleaded.

"What's wrong, buz?" Will questioned as he paused his program.

"We found a body in the woods!" Bailey informed.

Will's eyes and mouth shot wide open at this news.

"Oh my God!" he cried out loud. "I'll call the police."

With that, Will made the necessary call, and sure enough, the local police arrived, and the two boys, on their horses, led them to the scene. With the police was homicide detective Andrew Washington, who just so happened to be Molly's uncle.

"It's good to see you again, Uncle Andy." Molly greeted. "I just wish it was on more peaceful terms."

"Likewise, Mol." agreed Andrew.

Andrew then turned to one of the police officers on the scene.

"So, what've we got?" Andrew asked the officer.

"The victim is a young South Asian male." the officer replied. "Witnesses identified him as one Amar Achaval. The cause of death is yet to be determined."

But then, another officer approached with a plastic evidence bag. Inside was a shell casing, specifically one from a .357 Magnum bullet.

"Found this near a tree." the second officer reported. "It's likely the victim was shot to death."

"Good job, Hargeaves." the first officer praised.

"Thank you, sir." Hargreaves thanked.

Soon enough, the coroner arrived to haul the body away for examination, and as both parties left the scene, the kids all looked at one another.

"I can't believe it." Sarah noted. "A murder at Horseland!"

"This is really shocking." added Nani.

"Indeed it is." agreed Will. "Well, it's getting late, so I think it's time we all headed home."

"You're right, cuz." Bailey said.

And with that, the friends all parted ways, and as they all went to bed, all of them were filled with shock over what had jut transpired.

**End Of Chapter 1**


	2. A Lead & Another Shocking Discovery

**Chapter 2: A Lead & Another Shocking Discovery**

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A.N. Sorry the previous chapter was so short. To make up for it, I'll be trying to make the rest of the chapters, this one included, longer than that.

* * *

Forensic analysis of the body Bailey and his friends had found in the woods confirmed that it was indeed twenty-four-year-old Amar Achaval, and Amar's autopsy revealed that he had died after being shot in the aorta, based on a gunshot wound in the center of his chest, and based on the condition of the body, the time of death was ruled to have been sometime the night before Bailey and his friends found Amar's body. At the Stilton residence, the family was having breakfast and chatting happily with one another, but Chloe and Zoey were eating in absolute silence. This caused concern in their father, Brendan.

"Girls, is anything wrong?" he inquired.

"Yeah, you girls haven't said a word since you came home yesterday." added Rachel, their mother. "Are either of you sick? Should we call the doctor?"

"No doctor can cure how we're feeling." Chloe finally managed to utter.

Both parents were very concerned for their daughters. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Come in!" Brendan said.

The door opened and in walked Detective Washington. "Good morning." he greeted. "I'm detective Andrew Washington with the local police department. I need to speak with you when you're done eating."

"Alright." said Brendan.

Soon, the Stiltons were done eating and were conversing with Detective Washington in the living room. Mrs. Stilton had made some coffee for the adults while the twins had hot chocolate.

"Are Chloe and Zoey in any trouble?" Rachel worried.

"No, not at all." replied Detective Washington. "In fact, I wanted to ask you something. Does the name "Amar Achaval" ring a bell to either of you?"

"Yes, he's my PA. answered Brendan. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"I'm sorry to say this, but he was murdered two nights ago." Detective Washington confessed. "I'm so sorry."

Both Mr. and Mrs. Stilton were shocked at this announcement.

"What?!" gasped Brendan.

"How?!" shrieked Rachel. "And why?!"

"That's what we're trying to find out." said Detective Washington. "How long have you known Amar?"

"He first came to America from India on a student visa." explained Brendan. "He was an exchange student at the local high school, and we were his host family. He liked the experience so much that he decided to move here after graduation, and he passed the citizenship test with ease. When he did move back, I hired him as my personal assistant."

"Was he any trouble?" Detective Washington asked.

"No." answered Rachel. "He was very well-mannered, and he treated us like family. He even took the twins to school for us and helped us around the house."

"And he was funny, too." added Zoey.

"He was like a brother to us." Chloe put in. "I just can't believe he's gone."

"Don't worry, we will do what it takes to find the person responsible." promised Detective Washington. "In the meantime, if you have any leads, here's my number."

Detective Washington gave Brendan a card with the telephone number of the local police department and left, and arrangements were made to have Amar's body buried in a local cemetary after his funeral with the consent of his parents, who were still living in India, and they agreed, and Brendan agreed to send them money for a plane ticket for them to fly to America for the funeral. Just as Brendanwas hanging up the phone with Mr. Achaval, there was a knock at the door. When Mrs. Stilton opened the door, she was greeted by Bailey.

"Hello, Bailey." she smiled.

"Hello, Mrs. Stilton." Bailey repeated. "Are Chloe and Zoey here?"

"Yes, they are." came Rachel's cordial reply.

Rachel called Chloe and Zoey to the door.

"What's up, Bailey?" Zoey asked.

"The others and I are gonna go to the mall and hang out." answered Bailey. "Wanna come with?"

"Sure, I guess." said Chloe.

"Yeah, we could use something to take our minds off this." agreed Zoey.

After saying goodbye to their parents, Chloe and Zoey left with Bailey, and soon met up with Sarah, Molly, Alma, and Nani at the mall. Their plan, like Bailey had said, was to just hang out, do a little shopping, and have lunch in the food court. Foretunately for all of them, Sarah's parents, being the richest in the state, had given them more than enough money to spend on this mall outing. Their first stop was the FYE store, where they bought a LEGO Star Wars Resistance A-Wing Starfighter set for Bailey, a Queen 40th Anniversary Collector's Box Set for Sarah, a Wonder Woman Geeki Tiki tumbler for Alma, _Fine Line_, the second studio album by Harry Styles of One Direction for both Chloe and Zoey, _The New Scooby-Doo Movies: The (Almost) Complete Collection _on DVD for Molly, and a white faux fur pom knit beanie for Nani. Sarah had also bought a copy of Charley Pride's 1980 album _There's a Little Bit of Hank in Me_. After FYE, they all had a large pepperoni pizza from Papa John's in the food court. After lunch, they spent some time in the arcade, and pooled in their tickets to pay for a 380-count bucket of Dubble Bubble bubble gum, then they went to the candy shop, where they bought a box of Dots for Bailey, an 8-ounce bag of Hershey's Drops for Sarah, a box of Bottle Caps for Molly, a 7-ounce bag of Lifesavers Gummies for Alma, a blue raspberry and red cherry World's Largest Gummy Worm for Zoey and Chloe, and a Lindt white chocolate bar for Nani. Their final stop was Juju 66, where they all got small smoothies, with Bailey getting a mango smoothie, Sarah getting a papaya smoothie, Molly and Alma both getting honeydew smoothies, the twins getting banana smoothies, and Nani getting a watermelon slush smoothie. Just as Sarah was paying for the smoothies, Molly's cell phone rang, and when she answered, it was Detective Washington. The two had a brief conversation, then hung up.

"Who was that, Molly?" Nani questioned as she sipped her smoothie.

"Uncle Andy." answered Molly. "He wants us to come to the station right away. They've gotta break."

Everyone's eyes widened at this revelation.

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Sarah pondered out loud. "Let's go over there!"

Soon, they arrived at the station and went to see Detective Washington in his office.

"So, what's up, Uncle Andy?" Molly asked.

Detective Washington then placed two evidence bags on his desk. In the first was a Desert Eagle L5 semi-automatic pistol. In the second was an expanded .357 Magnum bullet.

"Your friend Will found this pistol buried under a pile of rocks and this bullet at the base of a tree with a metal detector." explained Detective Washington. "Ballistics testing showed that this was the weapon used in the murder of Amar Achaval."

Detective Washington then showed the kids photos of the results of the ballistic markings of the bullet that killed Amar and the one that was fired as part of the ballistics testing, and it was a perfect match. When Zoey and Chloe took a look at the pistol, a wave of surprise and shock washed over them.

"Hey, Zoey, doesn't Dad have a gun that looks like that?" Chloe gasped.

"Yeah, he does." confirmed Zoey.

Just then, an officer poked his head in.

"Detective, there's someone here who claims he's had a weapon stolen." the officer reported. "His name's Brendan Stilton."

"Hey, that's our dad!" Zoey cried out loud.

"Do you want me to send him in, sir?" the officer questioned.

Detective Washington nodded.

"Send him in, Cunliffe." came his reply.

"Yes, sir." said Cunliffe.

Soon, Brendan was in the office.

"Mr. Stilton, do you recognize this pistol?" Detective Washington questioned as he held up the bag with the gun inside.

Brendan was elated.

"Yes, that's my gun!" Brendan proclaimed.

"Great." said Detective Washington. "Well, if that's okay with you, we'd like to keep it here as evidence."

"Fine by me." nodded Brendan.

"Thank you." thanked Detective Washington.

Just then, Zoey had a thought.

"Dad, would it be okay if me and Chloe went with you back home?" she inquired. "I wanna check something out."

"Of course." answered Brendan.

"And I'll have a CSI squad go with you." offered Detective Washington.

"Sounds good to me." said Brendan.

Soon, Brendan, Chloe, Zoey, and a squad of Crime Scene Investigation officers were at the Stilton house. Rachel was still at work. The CSI team searched the residence for signs of forced entry, but there were none to be found.

"I think whoever stole the gun has been here before." one of the officers hypothesized.

"Where was the weapon stolen from?" questioned another.

"I'll show you." said Brendan.

Brendan led them upstairs to his and Rachel's bedroom, where he showed them a drawer that had a keyhole in it.

"This is where I normally keep it." Brendan explained. "Only two people have the key to this drawer; me and my wife."

"Yeah, and Mom's key is a copy." added Chloe.

One of the CSI officers took a photograph of the open safe.

"Well, that's all the evidence we can gather right now." said the officer. "Let us know when you have more information for us."

"Will do." promised Brendan.

The CSI team then left the house, and Brendan looked at his daughters.

"What do you girls say to dinner at Olive Garden?" he proposed.

"Sure." confirmed the twins.

Later that night, after their meal at Olive Garden, Chloe and Zoey were getting ready for bed.

"Hey, Zoey, can I tell you something?" Chloe asked.

"Sure." smiled Zoey. "What is it?"

"Well, since Dad said that only he and Mom have keys to that drawer, I can't help but feel that it was either Mom or Dad that killed Amar." Chloe confided.

Zoey was startled at this confession.

"You don't think that's true, do you?" she inquired.

"I hope not." replied Chloe, whose eyes then caught a glimpse at the time on the clock. "Well, we better get to sleep. It's almost 11."

"Right." agreed Zoey. "Goodnight, sis."

"Goodnight." repeated Chloe.

As the two girls fell asleep that night, their minds were tangled with thoughts of one of their own parents being a cold-blooded killer.

**End of Chapter 2**


	3. More Evidence

**Chapter 3: More Evidence**

The next day, Bailey and Will were hiking through the woods. Bailey's collie, Shep, was with them. About an hour into their hike, they stopped to have lunch by the river. Just as they were taking their first bites into the sandwiches they brought, Shep started barking loudly to get their attention.

"What is it, Shep?" Bailey questioned.

Shep continued to bark, and Will quickly found out why.

"He sees something." he quipped.

"What could it be?" Bailey asked.

"There's only one way to find out." his cousin replied. "Lead us to it, Shep."

Shep led the boys over to the object he had spotted, and when they got up close, it was revealed to be a black garbage bag.

"Looks like someone dumped their garbage here." Bailey commented.

"I don't think it's garbage." Will said. "I've been binge-watching _Forensic Files _on Netflix lately, and as far as I'm concerned, if there's a garbage bag out here in a location like this, chances are there might be some evidence inside. I'll go back to the ranch and call the police. You stay here with Shep."

"You got it." nodded Bailey.

And that's exactly what he did. Soon, the police came, collected the bag, and went back to the station, with Bailey and Will following. When they arrived, they relieved the bag of its contents; A black sweater, a black ski mask, black sweat pants, and black Dr. Martens boots. All of these items were sent to the forensics lab for analysis. While the analysis was underway, Bailey and Will informed Detective Washington and his men about how they found the bag.

"That was great work, you two." Detective Washington praised with a smile in his voice.

"Thanks, Detective." thanked Bailey.

"No problem." smiled Detective Washington.

Just then, there was a knock on Detective Washington's door.

"Come in." commanded Detective Washington.

The door opened and in walked Chloe and Zoey, the former of whom had a manila envelope in her hand.

"Detective, Zoey and I found something you should see." informed Chloe as she handed Detective Washington the envelope.

Detective Washington took the envelope, opened it up, and pulled out its contents. They looked to be letters.

"Interesting." noted Detective Washington. "How did you find these?"

"Here's how it happened." replied Zoey.

The scene then faded into grayscale. It showed Chloe and Zoey at home. Both their parents were at work. The twins were going through Amar's personal belongings. During Brendan's phone call to Amar's parents discussing the funeral, he had also asked if it would be alright if Zoey and Chloe each chose some things belonging to Amar to keep for themselves, to which the parents gave permission. Among the things they were going through was a folded piece of paper.

"Hey, Zoey, what do you suppose this is?" Flashback Chloe inquired.

"I don't know." replied Flashback Zoey. "Let's see what it is."

Flashback Chloe unfolded the paper, and it was revealed that it was a death threat message for Amar. The message said "If you ever tell my secret, you're a dead man!". Both Chloe and Zoey felt their hearts skip a beat.

"What kind of "secret" is this message talking about?" Flashback Zoey asked.

"I have no idea." Flashblack Chloe replied. "Come on, let's go see if we can find anything."

With that, the girls began searching. First, they searched the master bedroom, but couldn't find anything. Then, they searched in the home office, which was shared between both their parents. When they looked in the filing cabinet, they found a bright pink folder labeled as "Letters From Arnie", and when they examined the folder's contents, they found they were letters. Not just any letters, but they were love letters, as hinted by such words and phrases as "hon", "babe", "I love you to bits", and other flirtatious terms.

"I don't believe this!" declared Flashback Chloe.

The scene then faded back to Detective Washington's office.

"Do you know this "Arnie" person?" Detective Washington then asked.

"Yes, actually." confirmed Zoey. "His name is Arnold Fox."

"He's one of Mom's co-workers." added Chloe.

"Thanks for the info. We'll look into it." Detective Washington offered.

After thanking Detective Washington, the twins, Bailey, and Will left the police station to meet up with Sarah, Alma, Molly, and Nani at the movies.

"I can't help but feel good that we're helping the police to solve this crime." Zoey confessed.

"It does feel good." agreed Chloe.

"Indeed it does." Bailey chimed in. "What with me and Will finding that bag of clothes and you two finding those letters and that death threat, we're adding new pieces to this puzzle."

"And who knows, maybe in a few days, we'll have the answers we're looking for." Will claimed. "The killer will be revealed and we can finaly put this all behind us."

"Amen to that, cousin." Bailey proclaimed in agreement.

**End of Chapter 3**


	4. The Hand That Feeds

**Chapter 4: The Hand That Feeds**

The next day, the girls were out riding. This time, Bailey was staying behind to watch _Forensic Files_ with Will. As they trotted through the trees, they conversed.

"Have there been any updates?" Sarah inquired.

"Yes, there have." replied Chloe. "Just yesterday, me and Zoey were searching our house for any evidence, and we found some letters and a note containing a death threat in Mom and Dad's home office."

"The letters were between Mom and one of her co-workers." Zoey added.

"Hmm, I wonder if that means anything." Nani pondered.

"Well, we turned them into Detective Washington the minute we found them." Chloe confirmed.

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me." piped Molly. "Uncle Andy called earlier and said that the forensics team finished examining those clothes Bailey and Will found."

"Oh, nice." said Zoey. "What did they find?"

"They found some red hair on the inside of the ski mask and on the sweater." Molly explained. "The boots were size nine and a half."

"I have a feeling that this case is gonna bust wide open." commented Nani.

"Yeah, you might be right." agreed Alma.

Just then, Sarah spotted something.

"Stop!" she commanded.

Everyone stopped their horses.

"What is it, Sarah?" Alma inquired.

Sarah jumped off and went over to investigate what she saw. It looked like a boot impression in the dirt, and they just so happened to be in the exact same area where they found Amar's body back in Chapter 1.

"Look, a boot print!" she said. "And it looks like it's been here for a while. You girls stay here, I'm gonna go get Bailey and Will."

And that's exactly what she did, and soon enough, Sarah returned, with Bailey, Will, and a police officer, who made a plaster cast of the boot impression.

"Thank you, girls." the officer smiled. "I don't know how we could've overlooked this."

"No problem, officer." Sarah said.

The officer then left, leaving the kids to themselves.

"That's one more piece added to this puzzle." Bailey announced.

"Yeah, and I can already sense that very soon, we'll have a clear picture of the killer." agreed Alma.

Meanwhile, at the police station, the officer turned the impression over to Detective Washington, who compared it to one of the boots. It was a perfect match.

"Alright, so our killer is a red hair and whose shoe size is nine and a half." proclaimed Detective Washington. "We're close, I can feel it."

At that moment, another officer came into Detective Washington's office with some papers in his hand.

"We finished the background check on Arnold Fox." the officer said.

"Great." praised Detective Washington. "What've we got on him?"

"Well, says here that he has had no prior arrests, but he did get into trouble with the police for shoplifting when he was sixteen." the second officer explained. "But since he was underage, he wasn't formally charged, and instead was given a fine for a hundred bucks and a warning to not do it again."

"Alright." said Detective Washington. "And his current place of work?"

"Receptionist for the Grandiose Vale Hotel, owned by the Whitney family." the second officer reported. "Mrs. Stilton's the housekeeping manager."

"Interesting." commented Detective Washington. "What about his address?"

"43 Andretti Road." answered the second officer.

"Great." said Detective Washington. "Let's get on our way."

With that, Detective Washington left with the second officer, and soon arrived at the house, where he knocked on the door. The door opened and they were greeted by a man in his early forties with light brown hair that was parted to the left, blue eyes, and wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt, navy blue jeans, and black Keds sneakers.

"Afternoon, gentlemen." the man greeted cordially.

"Arnold Fox, I presume?" Detective Washington implored.

"Yeah, that's me." Arnold said. "Would you like to come inside?"

"Yes, we would." Detective Washington answered.

"Good, because I have something you might wanna hear." quipped Arnold.

Detective Washington and the officer shared a look of surprise.

"Is that so?" questioned Detective Washington.

"Yup." Arnold nodded. "We'll talk more inside."

Arnold led the detective and the officer inside the house and instructed them to sit down on the loveseat while he took a seat in an armchair.

"It's about Amar Achaval's murder." Arnold informed. "I know who killed him."

"Alright. Who?" Detective Washington inquired.

Arnold sighed.

"It was Rachel." he admitted. "Rachel Stilton."

Detective Washington and the officer were very surprised indeed at this revelation.

"How do you know this?" the officer questioned.

"I'd like to discuss this at the station, if that's alright." offered Arnold.

"That's fine." Detective Washington agreed.

Soon, Detective Washington, the officer, and Arnold were in an interrogation room at the police station, and Arnold began to tell his tale, which was recorded onto a tape recorder that was placed on the table.

"You see, I must admit that Rachel and I were having an affair." Arnold confessed.

"That explains the love letters." Detective Washington declared. "Go on."

"Well, Amar somehow found out about it and told Rachel that he was going to tell Mr. Stilton about it." Arnold explained. "When he did, she sent him a note threatening him with death if he told Mr. Stilton about it, but he did anyway. Mr. and Mrs. Stilton got into a big argument about it afterwards and he threatened her that he would file for divorce and complete custody of Chloe and Zoey if she didn't break off the affair. She didn't take too kindly to it and agreed to break if off, so we did, and I thought that was that."

"Let me ask you one question; Did you ever have any conflicts with Mr. Stilton?" Detective Washington then asked.

"No, sir. He's been my best friend since we met during his junior year of high school." Arnold replied. "Anyways, just a few months earlier, Rachel called me and said she had an idea. That idea was to carry out her threat on Amar. Since she had a key to the drawer where Mr. Stilton kept his gun, she had easy access to it. She asked me to be the getaway driver. We arranged to pick up Amar and take him to the woods at Horseland. On the night he was killed, I picked Rachel up at the Stilton house. She was wearing a black sweater, sweat pants, and Doc Martens. Once she was in the car, we drove over to Amar's house and picked him up. Once he was in the car, we drove to the woods in Horseland. Amar got out first and walked far away from the car. That's when Rachel put on this ski mask she brought and followed him soon after. About an hour later, she shot him and ran back to the car after covering the body with a tarp she brought and some leaves and twigs on the ground and burying the gun under some rocks, then we fled, and returned later with the stuff she wore in a garbage bag that we dumped in a different area of the forest. That's my story."

Detective Washington nodded after hearing Arnold's testimony, looked at the officer, who also nodded, and stood up.

"Stand up and put your hands behind your back, please." he commanded. "You're under arrest for being an accessory to a murder."

Arnold complied, and he was soon handcuffed and escorted out of the interrogation room while Detective Washington went to his office to make arrangements for a warrant to be issued for the arrest of Rachel Stilton.

**End of Chapter 4**


	5. A Killer's End

**Chapter 5: A Killer's End**

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A.N. Hey all, GreenWiggle2018 here. Well, here it is, guys, the finale of Horseland Homicide! I bet none of you were expecting Mrs. Stilton to be the murderer as it was revealed in Chapter 4, were you? Well, this was my plan all along, to have Amar's killer be a woman, specifically Mrs. Stiton, because I'm sort of a fan of the "femme fatale" (if you know what I mean) trope.

* * *

The day after Arnold Fox's arrest, the Stilton family was at home enjoying a nice quiet lunch of penne pasta when all of a sudden, there was a sharp knock at the door. When Brendan opened the door, he found Detective Washington with an officer.

"What's going on?" Brendan worried.

"Is Rachel home?" Detective Washington questioned.

"Yes, she is." Brendan answered.

Then, Rachel, having overheard, approached, followed by Zoey and Chloe.

"What's the problem, officers?" she inquired.

Detective Washington then held up the arrest warrant.

"Rachel Stilton, you're coming with us." he then announced. "You're under arrest for the murder of Amar Achaval."

Brendan was apalled as he watched the officer place handcuffs on his wife.

"Rachel, is this true?" Brendan asked, eyes open with alarm.

"No, this is absurd!" Rachel hollered. "You don't have any proof!"

"Come with us to the station." Detective Washington ordered. "Then we'll talk."

"Detective, may I come with?" Brendan asked. "I need to find out for myself."

"By all means." replied Detective Washington.

"Us too?" Zoey piped up.

"I suppose so." said Brendan.

With that, Detective Washington, followed by Brendan, Chloe, and Zoey in the Stilton family car, drove to the police station, and before long, Rachel was in an interrogation room where she vehemently denied any involvement in Amar's murder, but when confronted with the letters from Arnold, the death threat message to Amar, and the tape recording of Arnold's testimony, she had no choice but to admit that she was indeed involved in the crime. However, instead of Arnold's original testimony that labeled him as the driver and herself as the shooter, she told them that it was the other way around, and even willfully submitted a strand of her hair and her fingerprints to prove it, but ultimately conceded when the results came back and showed that her fingerprints perfectly matched the ones found on her husband's pistol and that her hair matched the hair found on the inside of the ski mask and sweatshirt that she had worn when the crime was committed. An analysis of her handwriting also matched the handwriting on the death threat message. Thus, she was confirmed to be Amar Achaval's killer. Brendan looked on in disbelief as she was taken away.

"I can't believe this." Brendan sighed. "My own wife, a killer."

"It's okay, Dad." Chloe smiled sympathetically as she placed a hand on her father's back.

"Yeah, you didn't know Mom was even capable of this." Zoey added.

"Altough, I must admit that I sort of knew it would end up like this." confessed Chloe. "I mean, since Mom's the only other person besides you who has a key to that drawer where your gun is, I figured it would have had to been either you or her."

"I guess that makes sense." agreed Brendan. "But still, I just can't believe this is happening."

"Well, at least we now know that Amar's family can now be at peace knowing who took his life, right?" Zoey asked.

Brendan smiled.

"You're right, Zo." he said.

Chloe then sighed.

"But you know, I'm gonna miss her, since she'll probably be locked up for life and never get to see us again." she confided.

"We're all gonna miss your mother." Brendan agreed. "But as my father would say to me, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime."."

"Yeah, that's true." smiled Chloe. "Well, I guess as long as justice is served for Amar's family, it really won't matter anyway."

"That's right." agreed her twin.

Later, Chloe and Zoey had broken the news to their friends about their mother being the killer, and all of them were shocked. All of them, that is, except for Molly, who had already been informed.

"I don't believe it!" Sarah cried out in shock. "My parents are gonna flip when they hear this!"

"That was very disgraceful of her to commit such a crime." huffed Nani.

"And disgusting." added Alma.

"And despicable." finished Bailey.

A few days later, the funeral for Amar Achaval was held, and his parents, father Chirag and mother Zohana, had flown in from their native India to attend. By request of Mr. and Mrs. Achaval, Amar's remains were cremated, and his ashes were scattered on the spot in the woods surrounding Horseland where his body was discovered. Time passed, and with it the trial of Rachel Stilton and her accomplice Arnold Fox, at which Rachel pleaded guilty to first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Arnold Fox pleaded guilty to accessory to murder and was sentenced to twenty years. In light of the whole case, Bailey's parents, the owners of Horseland, and Alma's father, the foreman, all agreed to name their children and their friends' favorite trail the Amar Achaval Trail in his honor, and the hotel where Rachel used to work as housekeeping manager was renamed to Amar's Place Hotel & Spa. Bailey and his friends were also rewarded for their parts in the investigation with fifty dollars each, which they pooled in to have a memorial for Amar be erected by the stables at Horseland, and one week after the trial, they watched with pride as they watched it happen in the hands of Mr. Rodriguez.

"We did it, Amar." Bailey smiled. "We found the people responsible for your death and they're now serving their time in prison as penalty."

That night, Zoey and Chloe were sleeping when they both had a dream. In this dream, they found themselves in an environment surrounded by white light.

"Where are we?" asked Zoey.

"I don't know." replied Chloe.

The twins then saw what looked like a gate and advanced toward it. When they got closer, they saw that it was indeed a gate. The gate's doors were made of solid gold, and they opened slowly on their own. The twins walked through them and saw a figure of Amar, dressed in the clothing his dead body had been found in; a red t-shirt, faded blue jeans, and black Chuck Taylor sneakers. In addition, he also had a halo over his head and had somehow sprouted wings coated in large white feathers from his back.

"Amar!" they cried out in amazement as they ran to him.

"What's going on?" questioned Zoey. "What is this place?"

"This is Heaven." Amar explained. "I called you two here to thank you for helping to find the people responsible for my murder. My family is forever grateful to you two and your friends for your courage in finding my killer."

"It was nothing, really." smiled Zoey. "We really miss you on Earth, Amar."

"Don't worry, when you two cease to exist, we will see each other again in Heaven." promised Amar.

Amar and the twins then hugged just as the dream ended.

"Wow, that was some dream I had." Zoey declared.

"I can say the same." Chloe remarked. "We visited Amar in Heaven."

"Wow, I had the same dream!" Zoey gasped.

"No way!" Chloe cried.

"Way!" Zoey giggled.

The two girls then heard their father calling them downstairs for breakfast, and as they skipped down the stairs, they got ready to tell their father about their interesting dream.

**The End**


End file.
